The following appeared on Monday, March 4, 2024, in the Blank Slate Media newspaper chain and on its website, theisland360.com:

In a column I wrote in January, I was pleased to point out that Gov. Kathy Hochul “appeared to acknowledge the state’s deteriorating fiscal condition.” The proof of her concern was in her proposed $230 billion budget that called for a modest increase in spending of $3.7 billion.

Then there was Hochul’s extraordinary pledge to protect taxpayers’ “hard-earned money from politicians who want to raise your taxes.”

I, for one, found Hochul’s budgetary proclamation most refreshing. Perhaps she finally realized that there can be dire consequences if the state government does not halt runaway spending.

Unfortunately, however, the governor’s public embrace of sound fiscal policies is nothing more than play acting.

Why, you ask?

Well, as always, the devil is in the details. And the analysis of Hochul’s budget proposal performed by the office of State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reveals that it is loaded with ill-considered fiscal gimmicks that on the surface give the illusion of responsible stewardship.

Here’s a summary of the comptroller’s findings:

First, the report states that New York’s “structural budget gap is projected to worsen over the next few years.” Accumulated deficits are expected to hit $20 billion between fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2027-2028.

Next there is the issue of the state’s reserve funds. While state statutory reserve funds have increased to $6.3 billion, there are $13.2 billion set aside as “informal reserves” for “economic uncertainties.”

The informal reserves can be spent at any time on favored projects or causes because they are under the governor’s “discretionary control.” The report notes, “There is no statutory basis for such designated funds and no accompanying guidelines or restrictions or deposits, balance levels, how or when the funding can be used or replenished.”

Very convenient, don’t you think?

This financial gimmick will permit the government to expend state dollars beyond the modest increase in spending she announced in January to much fanfare. Don’t be surprised if a significant portion of those discretionary reserves are used to pay for migrant services.

With recurring spending growing faster than recurring revenue, the governor is using an egregious gimmick to coverup the budget’s structural imbalance: “one shot revenues.” There are $14 billion in “non-recurring resources” that will be expended to balance the budget.  The utilization of “one shots” only augments the out year budget deficits.

Then there is the governor’s scheme to “obfuscate the state’s true debt burden.”

The budget circumvents the state’s debt cap “by utilizing a loophole in the New York Debt Reform Act.” It “misleadingly portrays the Gateway debt [authorized up to $2.85 billion currently estimated at $1.4 billion] as if it is not a part of the state’s direct debt burden.” The Gateway project will expand Northeast Corridor rail travel between Penn Station and Newark.

DiNapoli’s analysts also identified approximately $3.4 billion in spending that is exempt from a competitive procurement process and from the comptroller’s contract oversight authority. “These proposed changes,” the comptroller rightly observes, “reduce transparency, competition, and oversight over a significant amount of taxpayer supported state spending.”

To put it more bluntly, the governor can approve without any oversight billions in contracts to cronies and donors to her campaign treasury.

Finally, there’s the comptroller’s not so rosy outlook on the state economy.

While the national labor force has recovered from COVID, the state has not.

With New York not expected to return “to pre-pandemic employment until the second half of 2026,” this plus the ongoing loss of middle- and upper-class taxpayers to low tax states will the comptroller concluded, “continue to pose a risk to the New York economy and in turn its revenue.”

The governor’s talk about being fiscally responsible is merely empty rhetoric. Hochul’s budget is anything but balanced and the in balance will surely grow after the far-left Legislature finishes with it.

If history is a guide, Gov. Hochul will likely surrender to the demands of legislators to spend more on pork projects and on special interests.

Like many of her predecessors, Gov. Hochul is using sleight-of-hand fiscal tricks to finance her budget, leaving New York’s dwindling number of taxpayers to foot the bill.